Nasa Gives Shuttle Lease Another Look

CAPE CANAVERAL — NASA is exploring the possibility of a company buying a new space shuttle and then sharing it with the government under an extraordinary lease arrangement.

Several firms, ranging from a designer of automobile prototypes to a builder of electronic components, already have shown an interest in the plan.

Private purchase of a replacement for Challenger, which exploded Jan. 28, would have to be a ''conventional business transaction'' in which the government and industry both share benefits and risks, said Barbara Stone of NASA's office of commercial programs in Washington.

The space agency already is working on a formal request for proposals and may have a rough draft ready within six weeks, Stone said. It is unclear, however, when the final version will be finished or a deadline set for submitting proposals.

NASA estimates that replacing Challenger will cost $2.8 billion. Citizens across the country have sent contributions totaling more than $50,000.

The Senate Budget Committee also has proposed setting aside $2.7 billion in budget authority over five years.

President Reagan has said he will not decide whether to recommend replacing Challenger until after the presidential commission investigating the accident completes its report in early June.

Leading the push for a privately owned shuttle is General Space Corp., a subsidiary of Astrotech International Inc. in Pittsburgh.

Company president Willard Rockwell Jr., testifying earlier this month to the House space subcommittee, outlined his plan for buying a replacement shuttle and leasing it back to NASA over 15 years, considered the lifetime of the spaceplane.

Under Rockwell's plan, NASA would be responsible for launching, operating and maintaining the new shuttle, while the company would market payload space for the entire shuttle fleet.

The lease money would pay back investors, and the company's profit would come from the marketing operation, Rockwell said.

Because NASA wants assurances that an agreement benefits taxpayers as well as the company that owns a shuttle, the request for proposals ''is going to be an extraordinarily complex document to prepare,'' said Barbara Luxenburg of NASA's commercial programs office.

Ironically, six days before Challenger exploded, NASA put an ad in Commerce Business Daily requesting ''expressions of interest'' from companies to buy a fifth shuttle.

By the Feb. 28 deadline, General Space Corp. and three other companies had shown interest, and earlier this month NASA acting administrator William Graham ordered that a formal request for proposals be drafted.

The other companies include Captronics Manufacturing Inc., of Dallas, a maker of power systems and electronic components for the military; Batten Heads Inc. of Romulus, Mich., a designer and builder of automotive prototypes; and Independent Business Consultants of Stoughton, Wis.

Representatives of Captronics and Batten Heads wouldn't discuss their interest in buying a shuttle. A call to Independent Business Consultants, which was not listed in the phone book, was answered by a machine. A spokesman for General Space Corp. did not return phone calls.

General Space Corp. has shown the most interest, but NASA will not discount the others.

NASA officials said any deal with private industry would include six basic requirements:

-- A private shuttle must be available for national security, rescue and NASA priority missions, such as flights with science deadlines.

-- The agreement for a privately owned shuttle must stipulate a sharing of risks. For example, a company would not be guaranteed that its shuttle would fly a certain number of missions or carry a certain number of payloads, Stone said.

-- The company's return on investment can't be so great that the cost of buying shuttle payload space would be so high that customers would seek out other launch vehicles.

-- The private shuttle has to be built so that it is safe and meets the requirements of the fleet.

-- An agreement must not prohibit NASA from making an agreement with a different company to buy yet another shuttle.

-- An agreement has to be public and must be in the joint interest of both sides.